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Episode #140: Artist Cao Fei discusses her multi-media theatrical work “PRD Anti-Heroes” (2005), a play performed by non-professional actors. Investigating the “anonymous and unsung heroes” of the Pearl River Delta or “the factory of the world,” Cao’s production incorporates elements of traditional Chinese legends, Hong Kong soap operas, and Cantonese farces.
Cao’s work reflects the fluidity of a world in which cultures have mixed and diverged in rapid evolution. Her video installations and new media works explore perception and reality in places as diverse as a Chinese factory and the virtual world of Second Life. Depictions of Chinese architecture and landscape abound in scenes of hyper-capitalistic Pearl River Delta development, in images that echo traditional Chinese painting, and in the design of her own virtual utopia, “RMB City.” Fascinated by the world of Second Life, Cao Fei has created several works in which she is both participant and observer through her Second Life avatar, China Tracy, who acts as a guide, philosopher, and tourist.
Cao Fei is featured in the Season 5 (2009) episode Fantasy of the Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes (link opens application), or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.
CREDITS | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview & Translation: Phil Tinari & Xiaotong Wang. Camera: Takahisa Araki. Editor: Joaquin Perez. Voiceover: Clara Jo. Artwork Courtesy: Cao Fei. Video: © 2011 Art21, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Cao Fei. "PRD Anti-Heroes," 2006. Video still. Multi-media opera, single-channel color video with sound, 2 hours 22 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York. © Cao Fei.
Cao Fei. "PRD Anti-Heroes," 2006. Video still. Multi-media opera, single-channel color video with sound, 2 hours 22 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York. © Cao Fei.
Cao Fei. "PRD Anti-Heroes," 2006. Video still. Multi-media opera, single-channel color video with sound, 2 hours 22 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York. © Cao Fei.
Cao Fei. "PRD Anti-Heroes," 2006. Video still. Multi-media opera, single-channel color video with sound, 2 hours 22 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York. © Cao Fei.
Cao Fei. "PRD Anti-Heroes," 2006. Video still. Multi-media opera, single-channel color video with sound, 2 hours 22 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York. © Cao Fei.
Cao Fei. "PRD Anti-Heroes," 2006. Video still. Multi-media opera, single-channel color video with sound, 2 hours 22 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York. © Cao Fei.
Cao Fei. "PRD Anti-Heroes," 2006. Video still. Multi-media opera, single-channel color video with sound, 2 hours 22 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York. © Cao Fei.
Cao Fei. "PRD Anti-Heroes," 2006. Video still. Multi-media opera, single-channel color video with sound, 2 hours 22 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York. © Cao Fei.
Cao Fei. "PRD Anti-Heroes," 2006. Video still. Multi-media opera, single-channel color video with sound, 2 hours 22 minutes. Courtesy the artist and Lombard-Freid Projects, New York. © Cao Fei.
